Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: United Nations A ‘Moral Farce’

Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesAARON KLEIN22 Sep 2016

NEW YORK — During his speech at the United Nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the international body as a “moral farce,” and referred to one UN agency as a “joke” and another as a “circus.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the U.N., begun as a moral force, has become a moral farce,” Netanyahu declared.

He stated: “Year after year, I’ve stood at this very podium and slammed the U.N. for its obsessive bias against Israel and the U.N. deserved every scathing word. For the disgrace of the General Assembly, that last year passed 20 resolutions against the democratic state of Israel and a grand total of three resolutions against all the other countries on the planet. Israel: 20, rest of the world: three.”

The Israeli leader condemned the U.N. Human Rights Council, which routinely singles out Israel in biased resolutions; and the Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which in April approved a resolution ignoring Jewish ties to Jerusalem’s Old City and the Temple Mount. The Mount is Judaism’s holiest site.

“And what about the joke called the U.N. Human Rights Council, which each year condemns Israel more than all the other countries of the world combined,” Netanyahu stated. “As women are being systematically raped, murdered, sold into slavery across the world, which is the only country that the U.N.’s Commission on Women chose to condemn this year? Yep, you guessed it, Israel.”

“Israel, where women fly fighter jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside, twice, over the Supreme Court, and have served as speaker of the Knesset and prime minister.”

“And this circus continues at UNESCO. UNESCO, the U.N. body charged with preserving world heritage,” he continued. “Now, this is hard to believe, but UNESCO just denied the 4,000-year connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site, the Temple Mount. That’s just as absurd as denying the connection between the Great Wall of China and China.”

Netanyahu took the occasion to invite Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come and “speak to the Israeli people at the Knesset in Jerusalem.”

Netanyahu reiterated his positon that an Israeli-Palestinian deal can only be reached through direct negotiations and not imposition of a UN resolution. “The road to peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York,” he said.

Regarding the UN’s mistreatment of Israel, Netanyahu stated, “The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better. The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, one message for you today: Lay down your arms, the war against Israel in the UN is over,” he said.

The change will happen in this hall because back home your governments are rapidly changing their attitudes toward Israel, and sooner or later that’s going to change the way you vote at the UN,” he told UN representatives.